Welcome to Giving Helpful Feedback. We're already on the third feedback skill, focusing on goals. So let's define what we mean. In the previous lessons we looked at making feedbacks specific and behavioral. We also emphasized impersonal feedback. In this video, we're going to add to these concepts and emphasize the importance of focusing only on the most important goals of the person receiving feedback. When we talk about goals, we mean work as opposed to personal goals. Managers usually set the goals for the employee. These goals maybe productivity goals. They could be interpersonal skills goals. They might be sales goals or citizenship goals, and many more. Some goals are more important then others to the employee. These goals are frequently defined in the employees performance evaluation plan. And can be linked to work rewards, such as salary and bonuses. We're going to provide you with an example and that might help a little bit. Let's say our example employee is in charge of taking care of the tiger in a zoo in New York City. And the tiger handler's supervisor defines the following goals for the tiger handler. Follow precautions to avoid the tiger escaping. Feed the tiger daily. Measure its weight and change its diet accordingly. Clean the tiger's cage. Help out with penguins as necessary. And greet zoo guests in a very friendly manner. Now the key. All of these are the tiger handler's goals. They're measured so your tiger handler can be rewarded at the end of the year, and let's take a look at how this might look. So, this chart shows you, for all the key duties the tiger handler has, what is the duty, and what is the weight given to that duty in terms of linking it to a reward. So, looking at this chart, what task do you think is most important to the tiger handler if they want to get a raise next year? You got it. The tiger handler is going to make sure that the tiger is getting fed. What animals will get less attention than the tiger? That is it. The poor penguins are the ones that are going to be left out of this deal because they're not very high on the reward scale. How about preventing tiger escape? That's also pretty high, just below feeding the tiger. Let's put these observations together to illustrate the scale. The tiger handler is going to pay the most attention to feedback that enables them to do a better job feeding the tiger. They also may make sure that the tiger doesn't escape because these goals count a lot towards the his or her ability to get a raise. So in a nutshell when you want to change an employee's behavior make sure to focus the most on the one or two behaviors that make the most difference to the employee. Giving too much feedback, if you've ever been on the receiving end, makes employees defensive and creates stress for them. Focussing on the employee's goals. Will help the message get through. The research is clear on this point. People will tune out, or not attend to feedback unrelated to their most important goals. Again, the top two. The importance of this point is that you, as a manager, can save time and disappointment if you follow this approach. Give employees the chance to fix their most important goals and the behavior related to these goals. Success there with the top one or two or three, may help build success in other areas. Avoid the temptation and the temptation is very clear you want to fix it all. Speaking of which it's often the case. The poor performance in one area is related to poor performance in another area. For instance, a student who is late may also make grammatical errors or perform poorly on tests. This pattern often shows up in people because they need development in a particular, underlying trait. For instance, conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is grounded in hard work and an achievement orientation. A good analogy from the natural world for this situation is the look up into the night sky. You may pick up the glow of a star. In this star mixup, a constellation called the Big Dipper. Behavior is also like this. They follow patterns and have common characteristics. Constellations and patterns of behavior, either good or bad. The thing to remember is focus on a person's goals and what will help them succeed. You may find that if people are deficient in one area, they are also deficient in others as well. Focus on one and then let success breed success. Let's go ahead and practice a little bit. Here's an example. Your employee needs to sell $1,000 worth of clothing before they are eligible for a bonus. The bonus is the largest part of their compensation. In their performance review you give them some advice. I'll show you that advice in a moment. And your job is to use this advice to help them. Which advice is better used at the moment of the evaluation, and which should be saved for another time? Take a look and think about it. There you go, it's A. In this situation it's probably best to focus on what will help them meet their bonus goals. The employees motivated to make their bonus, so any help you can provide them will be what they pay attention to. In summary, remember that people are wired to focus on, and remember those things and that feedback that relates to their most important goals. When giving feedback, focus and you'll be more successful. That concludes our third skill, keeping your feedback goal-oriented. [MUSIC]
